The theme of this year’s conference is “Make It So / Fais ce que doit“

and focuses on innovative approaches to second language and culture learning through maker culture, i.e., the process of multimedia project creation.

**Note, however, that abstracts need not address the theme directly.

Special to this year’s conference, given that we will be in French-speaking Montreal, we are encouraging submissions both in and about French. When you submit your proposal, be sure to indicate if your presentation should be classified as such. (Feel free to submit your abstract in French as well, if your presentation will be in French!)

Types of Proposals

The CALICO conference features five types of presentations.

Unless otherwise noted, all presentations should be delivered in English. (As indicated previously, the 2019 conference in Montreal will highlight sessions both in and about French.)

Hands-on workshop (half day, full day or two day)

Workshops, as the name implies, take place in labs and consist of teaching some hands-on skill to attendees, such as a web/mobile/other application for languages, lesson development using technology for a classroom, or introducing a piece of software to users.

Presentation (30 mins)

Individual presentations take place during the two full days of the main conference. These presentations are theory-driven and address quantitative/qualitative studies of language technology, application of technology for classroom use, or any of a range of language technology uses/applications for language acquisition. In order for proposals to be evaluated appropriately, submitters are asked to classify their presentation as
Empirical Research (e.g., data-based experimental work) or
Classroom Report (e.g., practice-based reports).

Panel (75 mins)

Panel presentations involve various presenters offering multiple views of a specific topic. The longer time allows for more in-depth coverage than in an individual session.

Technology Showcase presentation

Technology Showcase presentations take place the first night of the main conference in a more informal setting — all presenters in a large room presenting simultaneously (no projection) while attendees may approach to discuss topics individually. The Showcase lasts for 2 hours. Demonstration-based presentations work well as Showcase presentations.

Poster presentation

Poster presentations are scheduled during the Showcase time and follow the same format: simultaneous presentations, with attendees approaching to discuss topics individually.

Submitting Your Proposal

The first step in submitting a proposal is logging in to or creating a user account for the CALICO website. Once you are logged in, click on “CALICO Conference” on the top menu bar, then “Submit a proposal” from the resulting drop-down menu. If you have an account but do not recall the username, it is most likely your full email address. Keep in mind the login is case sensitive. You may also reset the password of the account using the link under the login boxes on the left.

You may return to edit a submitted proposal as needed until the submission deadline of October 26.

You will need to be sure that your submission contains a title so that it may be seen in the “My proposals” page to click on and edit.

If you will be submitting a proposal about French, be sure the check the “This session is about French” check box.

If you are proposing a session that will be delivered in French, be sure to check the “This session will be in French” check box.

If you have trouble at any time, you should contact CALICO’s office manager, Esther Horn, who is happy to help: info@calico.org.

Proposal Reviewing

Immediately after the proposal submission deadline, proposals are sent out for peer review. The general guidelines which reviewers follow in evaluating proposals are the following:

Timeliness and importance of the topic: CALICO members study a great diversity of topics, although certain subjects of research will have greater appeal. Is this topic likely to attract a wide variety of conference participants? Is the topic one that will encourage discussion among conference attendees?

Research design: Effective classroom reports and empirical research presentations begin with a solid design that is subsequently well executed. Does the proposal begin with an appropriate methodological or theoretical grounding? Does the proposal describe how the research was carried out? Does the proposal explain how the research does or will contribute to the field by referencing previous work and/or including a short bibliography?

Presentational outlook: Based on the proposal, is it likely that the content will be presented in an effective, coherent manner that will be comprehensible and useful to the CALICO audience? Are the key points of the presentation clearly outlined?

Requirements for Presenting

When your proposal is accepted for presentation at the CALICO conference, please keep in mind the following:

It is required that all presenters be members of CALICO, IALLT or EuroCALL before presenting at the conference in May. You do not have to be a member to create a user account and submit a proposal.

You are also responsible for registering to attend the conference and all co-presenters listed on the proposal submission should be at the conference in person. If a name should be included because the individual contributed to the study or put in work on the topic, you are welcome to include his/her name in the text of the proposal, but only those who plan to be in physical attendance should be listed as presenters.

CALICO does not require submission of full papers before or after the conference. However, we welcome the submission of handouts, slides, etc. to supplement presentation information, which will be archived digitally. Further, we also encourage you to submit full papers to the CALICO Journal for review and possible publication.